Friday, February 08, 2013

We're hunkered down here in Chilmark, Massachusetts waiting for these two weather systems to collide in what is predicted to be a massive weather event. The map is from last night.

The northeast has shut down as much as possible. That means I spent two hours on hold yesterday trying to change my flight reservations; I was supposed to depart Saturday afternoon when the storm is expected to be at its most ferocious. Ordinarily I'm a fan of JetBlue. But when their web systems overload necessitating voice contact, it is no fun to listen to blaring techno-crap muzack and a recording telling me that by using their online site, it's easy to find "one-stop shopping" for travel with "no looking for parking, no lines, and no crowds." Not quite. I know they are trying, but they could change that hold message!

Here's what conditions looked like early this morning.

And here's the same scene two hours later. Still not very threatening.

It looks like a lot of snow is falling, but really it doesn't amount to much around noon.

A little after 2:00 pm:

Thanks to Paula's tips in comments I grabbed this map from New England Weather Works. I guess this thing is coming right at the Vineyard.

At 3:30pm, this is really beginning to live up to its hype, though still not much wind.

By way of the Wunderground, here's a radar map (about 4:00pm) of the coming together of cold and warm storms that is generating all this snow.

One last video as the darkness closed in around 5pm. Though our total snowfall so far has only been around 4 inches (12 or more inches forecast), the winds suggest we are just beginning to feel the main body of the storm.

6:53pm
We just switched onto generator power. I expect to lose connection any time soon.

9:45pm
Quick, before we lose power again, here's the regional radar map:

11pm
One more video, more for the audio of the wind than the picture. [Shortly after we lost power and connection.]

12 comments:

paula
said...

It's coming down nicely in Greenfield MA, out west. A light snow started about 10:30 a.m., and now the flakes are bigger and wetter. No wind yet. I can't say how fast it's falling but roads, trees, sidewalks, cars are already coated with the white stuff in the first hour. Good luck, Jan! I'll check in on you later today. Let's just hope we all keep our power. Without, we're sunk in this all-electric home and probably won't be able to get to our cabin w/woodstove.

Hi Paula -- we've got a generator here that powers the furnace and the well, but little else, so losing power wouldn't be catastrophic. This is really country ...Thick snow flakes, but still not much wind here at 1 pm.

Great, Jan! Our snow is light but persistent. I just read that the storm is headed directly to the islands and will stall off Nantucket for a while. You'll probably get socked when that happens. It's off the coast of NJ right now, heading in your direction. Like a hurricane, so the eye will be just south of you. The winds will be moving counterclockwise from the NE, carrying a lot of water. Also, there is a statewide 4 pm travel ban. No cars on any road except emergency, govt, utility or press vehicles. Good luck!

Please forgive my motherly tips, but you might want to fill a couple of jugs and/or the bathtub with washing/drinking water. If power goes out, you will lose access to your well. That's happened to me a few times, and is not pretty. Cheers.

this is essentially a winter hurricane. it has stalled 150 mi S of Nantucket, and will continue at about the same strength, while it picks up more moisture. By 7 a.m., it will be at 968 mb (it's lowest, we hope), and should start moving north, away from you. The worst winds will be past you at that point. Good luck!

Jan--just watched the NECN forecast. They say, if you are getting sleet now, it will turn to snow after 1 a.m. Also, seas are at 25 feet south of you. Will cause severe erosion on east side of island. That will happen overnight.

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